Skeletal / Orthopaedics
Challenge:
Musculoskeletal Disorders are injuries and disorders that affect the human body’s movement or musculoskeletal system, for example, the muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, discs, blood vessels, etc. Common disorders include Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Tendonitis, and Muscle or Tendon strain.
Technologies Available/Used:
- Cartilage & Tissue engineering
- Muscle 7 Bone regeneration
- Cellular reprogramming and cell-fate plasticity
Relevant Research from UM-BME Faculty
Dr. Rhima Coleman and Ellen Arruda – Finite element analysis of the human knee
The long-term goal of this project is to investigate how ACL and cartilage injuries alter the distribution of loads in cartilage tissue, accelerating the onset of osteoarthritis, and strategies to restore normal joint mechanics. It is well documented that patients with prior cartilage or ACL injury have earlier onset OA (post traumatic OA, PTOA) then the general population. Situations in which these injuries appear together, as is often the case, present a complex scenario in which the repair of both tissues must be carefully considered to restore normal joint biomechanics. We are characterizing the effects of these injuries on joint tissues using inhomogeneous models of cartilage and ACL properties and evaluating the influence of repair design parameters on restoration of normal joint mechanics.
